Mary, Mary, quite contrary...

[anivid]

I just wonder why this Garden Party is called Mary, Mary, quite contrary... ??
Is it a song or something ??
Anyway I'll be off, have no green fingers, but an automatic watering system called Gardena in my "parc" - hence both my plants and myself are thriving :-)

[Perpetual Man]

There is an old nursery rhyme anivid that goes (stretches memory):

Mary, Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

[anivid]

Thanks ...Man.

[alchemist]

This is what happens when a storm attacks your 12 year old Solanum "Glasnevin" (aka Chilean Potato Vine) although the 12 year trellis and the 12 year old nails in the wall may have played a part. Now we have a naked wall, and only half our vine has survived.

[Vertigo]

Ouch. But you might be surprised! Three years ago I had a years old Clematis go down in the same way (though somehwat bigger). I never bothered digging it out Letting a honey suckle take over instead. Then after two years of nothing it has suddenly shot out new growth this year.

[Mouse]

Alc, I can sympathise! My dicentra got broken in half by the wind the other day. Could've cried!

[The Judge]

Oof. That is a pity. It's such a lovely colour, too -- my parents had a solanum that must have been the best part of 20 years old which always gave a good show.

The wind has been tearing all the petals off my rose. It's a single flowering one, and only ever has a handful of flowers, so I look forward to it all year and only ever get a few days of pleasure, and this year it's even less. Grump.

[springs]

If it survived 12 years of fierce Donegal winds, it's tough. My money is on it coming back....

[alchemist]

The now-horizontal climber actually has two "trunks." One was snapped and the other survived, so we've taken away the branches belonging to the snapped one and remounted the remainder on the wall.
For now.
It must be made more secure, or it shall fall again.

[Vertigo]

Don't be surprised if the snapped one puts out new shoots though it could take a year or more before it does I believe, if you hold any hope of it coming back, that it is best to make a new clean cut below the ragged ends of the snap.

[Alex, The G and T]

I put the life-size, plastic Barn Owl on guard over the cherry tree, this morning. It perches on an orchard ladder and glowers frozenly at the ripening cherries.

It seems such a silly thing; but actually seems to keep the small birds from eating the cherries. I have doubts that the Ravens will be impressed, though.

I just now witnessed a most extraordinary event. It seems that one of the resident red-tail hawks took some sort of issues over the incursion of this plastic fiend.

The hawk dove, screaming and bashed the Owl in the back of the head, then flew into a nearby tree, shrieking. When the owl showed no signs of being intimidated; the hawk attacked again.

After the second attack, the hawk seemed to get the message that a hollow "thud" was not representing a live enemy, and flew away in disgust.

[Vertigo]

That's priceless Alex. I'd have loved to see that!

There's nothing to guard on my neighbour's cherry tree. There's just little clumps of brown withered rags where the cherries should be. Don't we just love the late frosts we get here.

[springs]

We found one of our blueberry bushes at the allotment eaten alive by caterpillars - swines! Last year, I had an infestation on my nastuiums - cabbage whites love them - the kids spent happy hours removing them to a little corner of the garden deemed caterpillar land.

Anyway, summer seems to be appearing - I picked shallots yesterday and have spent an hour sorting them and hanging them up to dry - they'll do most of the summer. A couple of red onions, too, and some garlic, although another couple of weeks in the sun will benefit them. Strawberries are coming and the redcurrants are turning - we have tons of those frozen from last year so I'll make some jelly in a couple of weeks. My rhubarb, though, is dead - it got frazzled in the early spring last year and has never recovered..

[Vertigo]

Wow takes more than that do do my rhubarb in; tough as old nails it is, though fortunately not from an eating point of view!

My garden is beginning to recover from the cold spring now. Cunnera puttin gup new unfrosted leaves. Acers desperately trying to do the same. And I've actually got some of my veg out now and it's isdoing well including the carrots and peas that got totally zapped last year. Only problem seems to be getting enough climbing beans to germinate. They like it warm for germination and since that brief warm spell at the end of May (which got some of them going) it has gone cold again. Gah!

I'll have to pop some piccies up sometime.

[springs]

I know, I'm amazed the rhubarb didn't come back this year, but it was another warm spring. It might need to be removed, but we'll shove some manure on it come sept and see if it recovers.

We were at the allotment today - see, I do something other than write, occasionally - and have a compost bin, one of the plastic jobbies, we brought from the house last year. We haven't been using it as us and the neighbour are trying to fill a bigger open one so it can be turned before the winter, so it was probably half full.

Anyway, loads of bees flying into it, so we seem to have a nest. I'm not too worried - the girls don't go very often and me and the hubby know not to use that bin , plus the neighbour does, too. But, thinking I might need to contact the local beekeepers association and see if someone can take the queen when we clear the nest in the autumn, or how we go about safeguarding her. (we had a nest in the garden once - we do believe in wildlifey bits all around, lord knows what's out there.... and the beekeeper just lifted the whole lot in a tescos bag and took it up the road to let go near a ditch in a field and let them build a new colony. Amazing.)

I, too, will try to get pics, but I'll have to use - it's in my emails somewhere, I think it's wallet pop to get them onto the chrons.